Notebook hard drive advances

Hitachi has got into the perpendicular recording game, with their release of a 160GB Travelstar 5K160 hard drive. A 5,400 RPM drive designed for notebooks and mobile computing, the Travelstar 5K160 utilises a number of technologies that have greatly improved soft error rates, such as the use of a new PMR write head. This makes it possible to write smaller data bits more sharply. The Travelstar 5K160 implements the same technology used with a new next-generation 1.8in hard drive from Hitachi which is due out later this year.

Meanwhile, Samsung is promising that notebook users will get an extra half hour of battery life, thanks to its coming hybrid hard drive. This drive contains a flash memory chip for storing data and applications, and as such the spinning part of the drive can go to sleep for longer periods, thus preserving battery life. Samsung also claims that the drive will be less prone to break down.